Both economic and environmental factors are driving an increasing emphasis on non-fossil fuel-powered vehicles, both automobiles and trucks. In particular, various electric vehicles are the preferred choice—either hybrids (having both electric and fossil-fuel propulsion), and now increasingly total electric vehicles (which operate only on electric motor propulsion). However, there is not yet the vast support infrastructure for electric vehicles (charging stations) that there is for fossil-fueled vehicles (gas/diesel stations). Thus, in many parts of the country, an electric vehicle must be able to travel distances greater than a hundred or even two-hundred miles in order to reach the next charging station, unlike the common situation for fossil-fueled cars having a gas/diesel station almost always within at most a few miles.
In today's society, both in the U.S. and even more so in Asia and Europe, there is an increasing emphasis on finding structures and methods for increasing the travel ranges of electric vehicles. More sophisticated batteries (such as lithium-ion) are being developed and now manufactured in “mega factories”, thus through economies of scale, prices are expected to drop precipitously in the next few years. Other efforts at increasing the power and efficiency of electric motors (e.g., with stronger rare-earth magnets) are also underway and making good progress. In view of this situation, any developments which may improve the power storage capability (within the limited volume available in a vehicle) and/or provide additional sources of energy during motion of a vehicle, may be of great value for increasing the travel ranges of cars and trucks, and thus in hastening the day when only electric vehicles travel our roads and highways.